Keeping the peace with Axis network cameras

Worcester County House of Correction and Jail keeps constant watch over inmate and staff safety with Axis and Genetec

“The resolution of the Axis cameras is so high that we can see the emotion on an inmate’s face and get a better understanding of that person’s intentions and whether they mean to do someone harm.” Maurice Myrie, Director of Information Technology and Information Security Officer for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office.

Mission

With a 3:1 ratio of inmates to uniformed correctional officers, the Worcester (Mass.) County Sheriff’s Office felt that it needed a video surveillance system to augment security at its county house of correction and jail. Given the nature of the facility, it was critical that the solution be robust enough to run 24/7, 365 days a year. It also had to be quick and easy to deploy while supporting remote maintenance.

Solution

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office hired security system integrators from Siemens to pull all the surveillance technology across the 12-building correctional facility campus into a single, cohesive network video solution controlled by Security Center, Genetec’s video management system. The cameras used in the project include over 100 network cameras from Axis. Uniformed staff monitors the cameras live in their assigned buildings while the video from each location is streamed to a central control station for archiving and post-incident review.

Result

The high-definition Axis cameras allow uniformed officers to zoom in close enough to see the emotion on an inmate’s face during a conflict and hopefully intercede before events escalate. The archived footage helps the investigative team identify all the parties involved in an incident and, when appropriate, initiate charges against specific individuals that might extend their sentence.